# 鉄

| 鉄 | U+9244, &#37444; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9244 |
| ← 鉃 [U+9243] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 鉅 → [U+9245] |

## Translingual

| Traditional | 鐵 |
| Shinjitai | 鉄 |
| Simplified | 铁 |

### Han character

鉄 (Kangxi radical 167, 金+5, 13 strokes, cangjie input 金竹手人 (CHQO), composition ⿰釒失)

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: page 1300, character 14
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 40285
* Dae Jaweon: page 1802, character 26
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4186, character 14
* Unihan data for U+9244

## Chinese
### Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声) : semantic 金 + phonetic 失 (OC *hliɡ).

### Etymology 1

* For pronunciation and definitions of 鉄 – see 鐵 (“iron; railway; etc.”). (This character is the former (1935–1936) ROC simplified, former (1969–1976) Singaporean simplified, and variant form of 鐵).
* Notes:Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore.Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

### Etymology 2

* For pronunciation and definitions of 鉄 – see 紩 (“to sew”). (This character is recorded in one or more historical dictionaries as an ancient form of 紩).

### References

* Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A04354-003
* Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), B03350-001

## Japanese

| Shinjitai | 鉄 |
| Kyūjitai | 鐵 |

### Kanji

(Third grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 鐵)
* iron

#### Readings

* Go-on: てち (techi)
* Kan-on: てつ (tetsu, Jōyō)
* Kun: くろがね (kurogane, 鉄)、かね (kane, 鉄)
* Nanori: けん (ken)、てつ (tetsu)

#### Compounds

* 鉄(てっ)扇(せん) (tessen): A Japanese war fan
* 地(ち)下(か)鉄(てつ) (chikatetsu): subway, underground railway

### Etymology 1

* Kanji in this term
* 鉄
* てつ Grade: 3
* on'yomi
* Alternative spelling
* 鐵 (kyūjitai)
Borrowed from Middle Chinese 鐵 (MC thet, “iron”). Compare modern Mandarin reading tiě, Hakka thiet.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) てつ [tètsú] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [te̞t͡sɨ]

#### Noun

鉄(てつ) • (tetsu)
* iron, the metal and the metallic chemical element
* (more generally) steel
* (figuratively) a blade, a knife, a sword, a weapon
* (figuratively) something extremely strong
* short for 鉄色 (tetsu iro, “steely black”)
* short for 鉄砲 (teppō, literally “cannon”, but in this case, refers to the poisonous fugu blowfish or dishes made from it)
* short for 鉄道 (tetsudō, “railway”)

##### Idioms

* 鉄(てつ)は熱(あつ)いうちに打(う)て (tetsu wa atsui uchi ni ute): “strike while the iron is hot”

### Etymology 2

* Kanji in this term
* 鉄
* くろがね Grade: 3
* kun'yomi
* Alternative spellings
* 鐵 (kyūjitai) 黒金
Compound of 黒 (kuro, “black”) +‎ 金 (kane, “metal”). The kane changes to gane as an instance of rendaku (連濁). Compare the black in English blacksmith.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) くろがね [kùrógáné] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [kɯ̟ɾo̞ɡa̠ne̞]

#### Noun

鉄(くろがね) • (kurogane)
* (archaic) iron
* (figuratively) something extremely strong

### Etymology 3

* Kanji in this term
* 鉄
* かね Grade: 3
* kun'yomi
* Alternative spelling
* 鐵 (kyūjitai)
For pronunciation and definitions of 鉄 – see the following entry. :
| 【金かね】1 | [noun] metal [noun] (impolite) Clipping of お金 (okane): money [noun] (colloquial) Short for 曲尺 (kanejaku): a carpenter’s square [noun] (colloquial) Short for 金物 (kanamono) or 金具 (kanagu): metal fittings [noun] Short for 金性 (kaneshō): fineness of gold metal, compare English karat [noun] Synonym of 金箔 (kinpaku): gold leaf Alternative spellings 銀, 銅 |
(This term, 鉄, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) :

### References

* 1 2 3 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN